Remote monitoring of cardiac implantable devices during COVID-19 outbreak: "keep people safe" and "focus only on health care needs"

BACKGROUND

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the ability of health care organisations to provide adequate care. We report the experience of a national tertiary electrophysiology centre in the management of patients with cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs) through the use of a fully remote follow-up model.

METHODS

We daily and prospectively collected remote monitoring (RM) relevant findings and following clinical actions performed from March 10^th to April 3^rd 2020, a period of suspension of routine ambulatory activity due to the national lockdown.

RESULTS

During the study period (25 days), we received 2,215 transmissions from 2,955 devices. Among them, 129 patients reported potential clinically actionable RM observations (event rate: 12.0/1000 patient-week). In 77 patients (60%), RM events triggered a clinical action, but only 5 patients needed an urgent in-hospital access (4 urgent procedures and 1 device reprogramming).

CONCLUSIONS

In the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, RM became an essential tool in healthcare delivery for CIED patients. We observed that RM was effective in "keep people safe" and "focus only on individuals with health care needs".

P947dST-Tiso index, a new shallow ECG marker in response to ajmaline for predicting ventricular fibrillation induction in Brugada patients

Introduction - No study has been performed to investigate the role of drug-induced ECG morphology modifications as potential risk factors for the development of malignant arrhythmias in patients with Brugada syndrome.

Purpose - The aim of this study is to introduce a new index to improve asymptomatic patient stratification  and to report the first case of a patient with Brugada syndrome undergoing ajmaline testing that has been evaluated using a diagnostic 252-lead ECG vest.

Methods - From December 2018 to April 2019, 26 consecutive patients [mean age 39.9 (30–59) years, 18 male] with no cardiovascular risk factors underwent ajmaline testing. By evaluating ECG recordings after ajmaline administration, we calculated an index that we called "dST-Tiso", that is the duration of the positive component of the ST-T wave to the isoelectric line, in V1 and/or V2.

Results- Out of 26 patients, 16 (61.5%) had a positive test, with type 1 (coved-type) ECG diagnostic pattern in leads V1-V2 from the 2nd, 3rd and 4th intercostal spaces.  The mean recorded dST-Tiso value was 239 ± 76 ms. The ECG showed T-wave above the isoelectric line in 5 patients with a significantly higher dST-Tiso value (on average 360 ± 56 ms), and biphasic T-waves below the isoelectric line in 11 patients with a dST-Tiso value of 209 ± 42 ms (Mann-Whitney, p = 0.039). All patients with positive ajmaline test underwent programmed electrical stimulation (PES). Ventricular fibrillation was induced during PES in all 5 patients with stretched dST-Tiso. In the remaining 11 patients without stretched dST-Tiso, no ventricular arrhythmia was induced by PES.  Fig 1 Moreover, using non-invasive high-density electrocardiographic mapping (252-lead ECG vest), 3 patients with dST-Tiso positive pattern received a second ajmaline protocol, with assessment of both the depolarization and repolarization phases.

Conclusion - The ECG pattern of prolonged dST-Tiso seems to have a significant impact on safety during PES and may have potential for stratifying risk of sudden death in patients with PES-induced ventricular tachycardia/fibrillation.

Abstract Figure 1. Patients’ flowchart.

Leadless pacemaker implantation after transcatheter lead extraction in complex anatomy patient

After transvenous lead extraction, leadless pacemaker might be a valid alternative to the traditional two-step strategy including an active fixation leads temporary PM and subsequent contralateral permanent implantation in patients who are pacemaker-dependent. Moreover, leadless PM might be of great importance in patients presenting with congenital vascular or cardiac abnormality.